CHAPTER

Thinking Like An Economist

Economics
PRINCIPLES OF

N. Gregory Mankiw

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In this chapter,
look for the answers to these questions:
 What are economists’ two roles? How do they differ?
 What are models? How do economists use them?
 What are the elements of the Circular-Flow Diagram?
What concepts does the diagram illustrate?
 How is the Production Possibilities Frontier related
to opportunity cost? What other concepts does it
illustrate?
 What is the difference between microeconomics and
macroeconomics? Between positive and normative?
2
 The Economist as Scientist
 Economists play two roles:
1. Scientists: try to explain the world
2. Policy advisors: try to improve it

 In the first, economists employ the

scientific method,
the dispassionate development and testing of
theories about how the world works.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 3

 Assumptions & Models
 Assumptions simplify the complex world,
make it easier to understand.
 Example: To study international trade,
assume two countries and two goods.
Unrealistic, but simple to learn and
gives useful insights about the real world.
 Model: a highly simplified representation of
a more complicated reality.
Economists use models to study economic
issues.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 4

 Some Familiar Models

A road map

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 5

 Some Familiar Models

A model of human
anatomy from high
school biology class

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 6

 Some Familiar Models

A model airplane

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 7

 Some Familiar Models

The model teeth at the Don’t forget

dentist’s office to floss!

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 8

Our First Model:
The Circular-Flow Diagram
 The Circular-Flow Diagram: a visual model of
the economy, shows how dollars flow through
markets among households and firms
 Two types of “actors”:
 households
 firms
 Two markets:
 the market for goods and services
 the market for “factors of production”

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 9

 Factors of Production
 Factors of production: the resources the
economy uses to produce goods & services,
including
 labor
 land
 capital (buildings & machines used in
production)

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 10

FIGURE 1: The Circular-Flow Diagram

Households:
Households:
 Own
Own thethe factors
factors of
of production,
production,
sell/rent
sell/rent them
them to
to firms
firms for
for income
income
 Buy
Buy and
and consume
consume goods
goods & & services
services

Firms Households

Firms:
Firms:
 Buy/hire
Buy/hire factors
factors of
of production,
production,

use
use them
them to
to produce
produce goods
goods
and
and services
services
THINKING
Sell
Sell goods
goods &
LIKE& services
services
AN ECONOMIST 11
FIGURE 1: The Circular-Flow Diagram

Revenue Spending
Markets for
G&S Goods &
G&S
sold Services bought

Firms Households

Factors of Labor, land,

production Markets for capital
Factors of
Wages, rent, Production Income
profit
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 12
Our Second Model:
The Production Possibilities Frontier
 The Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF):
a graph that shows the combinations of
two goods the economy can possibly produce
given the available resources and the available
technology
 Example:
 Two goods: computers and wheat
 One resource: labor (measured in hours)
 Economy has 50,000 labor hours per month
available for production.
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 13
 PPF Example
 Producing one computer requires 100 hours labor.
 Producing one ton of wheat requires 10 hours labor.
Employment of
Production
labor hours
Computers Wheat Computers Wheat
A 50,000 0 500 0
B 40,000 10,000 400 1,000
C 25,000 25,000 250 2,500
D 10,000 40,000 100 4,000
E 0 50,000 0 5,000
 PPF Example
Wheat
Production
Point (tons)
on Com- 6,000
graph puters Wheat 5,000
E

4,000
D
A 500 0
B 400 1,000 3,000 C
C 250 2,500 2,000
D 100 4,000 B
1,000
E 0 5,000 A
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Computers

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 15

ACTIVE LEARNING 1
Points off the PPF
A. On the graph, find the point that represents
(100 computers, 3000 tons of wheat), label it F.
Would it be possible for the economy to produce
this combination of the two goods?
Why or why not?
B. Next, find the point that represents
(300 computers, 3500 tons of wheat), label it G.
Would it be possible for the economy to produce
this combination of the two goods?

16
 ACTIVE LEARNING 1
Answers
Wheat
 Point F: (tons)
100 computers, 6,000
3000 tons wheat 5,000
 Point F requires 4,000
40,000 hours
3,000
of labor. F
Possible but 2,000
not efficient: 1,000
could get more 0
of either good 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
w/o sacrificing Computers
any of the other.
17
ACTIVE LEARNING 1
Answers
Wheat
 Point G: (tons)
300 computers, 6,000
3500 tons wheat 5,000

 Point G requires 4,000 G

65,000 hours 3,000
of labor. 2,000
Not possible
1,000
because
economy 0
only has 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
50,000 hours. Computers

18
 The PPF: What We Know So Far
Points on the PPF (like A – E)
 possible
 efficient: all resources are fully utilized
Points under the PPF (like F)
 possible
 not efficient: some resources underutilized
(e.g., workers unemployed, factories idle)
Points above the PPF (like G)
 not possible

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 19

 The PPF and Opportunity Cost
 Recall: The opportunity cost of an item
is what must be given up to obtain that item.
 Moving along a PPF involves shifting resources
(e.g., labor) from the production of one good to
the other.
 Society faces a tradeoff: Getting more of one
good requires sacrificing some of the other.
 The slope of the PPF tells you the opportunity
cost of one good in terms of the other.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 20

 The PPF and Opportunity Cost
Wheat The slope of a line
(tons) equals the
–1000 “rise over the run,”
6,000 slope = = –10
100 the amount the line
5,000
rises when you
4,000
move to the right
3,000 by one unit.
2,000
Here, the
1,000
opportunity cost of
0 a computer is
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 10 tons of wheat.
Computers

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 21

ACTIVE LEARNING 2
PPF and Opportunity Cost
In which country is the opportunity cost of cloth lower?
FRANCE ENGLAND
Wine Wine
600 600

500 500

400 400

300 300

200 200

100 100

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400
Cloth Cloth22
ACTIVE LEARNING 2
Answers
England, because its PPF is not as steep as France’s.
FRANCE ENGLAND
Wine Wine
600 600

500 500

400 400

300 300

200 200

100 100

0 0
0 100 200 300 400 0 100 200 300 400
Cloth Cloth23
 Economic Growth and the PPF
With additional Wheat
(tons) Economic
Economic
resources or an
6,000 growth
growth shifts
shifts
improvement in
the
the PPF
PPF
technology, 5,000 outward.
outward.
the economy can 4,000
produce more
3,000
computers,
2,000
more wheat,
or any combination 1,000
in between. 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Computers

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 24

 The Shape of the PPF
 The PPF could be a straight line, or bow-shaped
 Depends on what happens to opportunity cost
as economy shifts resources from one industry
to the other.
 If opp. cost remains constant,
PPF is a straight line.
(In the previous example, opp. cost of a
computer was always 10 tons of wheat.)
 If opp. cost of a good rises as the economy
produces more of the good, PPF is bow-shaped.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 25

 Why the PPF Might Be Bow-Shaped

As the economy

Beer
shifts resources
from beer to
mountain bikes:
 PPF becomes
steeper
 opp. cost of
mountain bikes
increases
Mountain
Bikes
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 26
 Why the PPF Might Be Bow-Shaped

At point A, At
At A,
A, opp.
opp. cost
cost of
of

Beer
A mtn
mtn bikes
bikes is
is low.
low.
most workers are
producing beer,
even those that
are better suited
to building bikes.
So, do not have to
give up much beer to
get more bikes.
Mountain
Bikes
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 27
 Why the PPF Might Be Bow-Shaped

At B, most workers

Beer
At
At B,
B, opp.
opp. cost
cost
are producing bikes.
of
of mtn
mtn bikes
bikes
The few left in beer is
is high.
high.
are the best brewers.
Producing more bikes B
would require shifting
some of the best
brewers away from
beer production,
would cause a big
drop in beer output. Mountain
Bikes
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 28
 Why the PPF Might Be Bow-Shaped
 So, PPF is bow-shaped when different workers
have different skills, different opportunity costs
of producing one good in terms of the other.
 The PPF would also be bow-shaped when
there is some other resource, or mix of
resources with varying opportunity costs
(E.g., different types of land suited for
different uses).

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 29

 The PPF: A Summary
 The PPF shows all combinations of two goods
that an economy can possibly produce,
given its resources and technology.

 The PPF illustrates the concepts of

tradeoff and opportunity cost,
efficiency and inefficiency,
unemployment, and economic growth.

 A bow-shaped PPF illustrates the concept of

increasing opportunity cost.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 30

 Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
 Microeconomics is the study of how households
and firms make decisions and how they interact
in markets.
 Macroeconomics is the study of economy-wide
phenomena, including inflation, unemployment,
and economic growth.
 These two branches of economics are closely
intertwined, yet distinct – they address different
questions.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 31

 The Economist as Policy Advisor
 As scientists, economists make
positive statements,
which attempt to describe the world as it is.
 As policy advisors, economists make
normative statements,
which attempt to prescribe how the world should be.
 Positive statements can be confirmed or refuted,
normative statements cannot.
 Govt employs many economists for policy advice.
E.g., the U.S. President has a Council of Economic
Advisors, which the author of this textbook chaired
from 2003 to 2005. 32
ACTIVE LEARNING 3
Identifying positive vs. normative
Which of these statements are “positive” and which
are “normative”? How can you tell the difference?
a. Prices rise when the government increases the
quantity of money.
b. The government should print less money.
c. A tax cut is needed to stimulate the economy.
d. An increase in the price of burritos will cause an
increase in consumer demand for video rentals.

33
ACTIVE LEARNING 3
Answers
a. Prices rise when the government increases the
quantity of money.
Positive – describes a relationship, could use
data to confirm or refute.
b. The government should print less money.
Normative – this is a value judgment, cannot be
confirmed or refuted.

34
ACTIVE LEARNING 3
Answers
c. A tax cut is needed to stimulate the economy.
Normative – another value judgment.
d. An increase in the price of burritos will cause an
increase in consumer demand for video rentals.
Positive – describes a relationship.
Note that a statement need not be true to be
positive.

35
 Why Economists Disagree
 Economists often give conflicting policy advice.
 They sometimes disagree about the validity of
alternative positive theories about the world.
 They may have different values and, therefore,
different normative views about what policy
should try to accomplish.
 Yet, there are many propositions about which
most economists agree.

THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 36

 Propositions about Which Most
Economists Agree (and % who agree)
 A ceiling on rents reduces the quantity and
quality of housing available. (93%)
 Tariffs and import quotas usually reduce general
economic welfare. (93%)
 The United States should not restrict employers
from outsourcing work to foreign countries. (90%)
 The United States should eliminate agriculture
subsidies. (85%)
continued…
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 37
 Propositions about Which Most
Economists Agree (and % agreeing)
 The gap between Social Security funds and
expenditures will become unsustainably large
within the next fifty years if current policies remain
unchanged. (85%)
 A large federal budget deficit has an adverse effect
on the economy. (83%)
 A minimum wage increases unemployment among
young and unskilled workers. (79%)
 Effluent taxes and marketable pollution permits
represent a better approach to pollution control
than imposition of pollution ceilings. (78%)
THINKING LIKE AN ECONOMIST 38
 FYI: Who Studies Economics?
 Ronald Reagan, President of the United States
 Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator
 Sandra Day-O’Connor, Former Supreme Court Justice
 Anthony Zinni, Former General, U.S. Marine Corps
 Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General, United Nations
 Meg Witman, Chief Executive Officer, eBay
 Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft
 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, Actor
 Ben Stein, Political Speechwriter, Actor, Game Show Host
 Mick Jagger, Singer for the Rolling Stones
 John Elway, NFL Quarterback
 Tiger Woods, Golfer
 Diane von Furstenburg, Fashion Designer 39
CHAPTER SUMMARY

 As scientists, economists try to explain the world

using models with appropriate assumptions.
 Two simple models are the Circular-Flow Diagram
and the Production Possibilities Frontier.
 Microeconomics studies the behavior of
consumers and firms, and their interactions in
markets. Macroeconomics studies the economy
as a whole.
 As policy advisers, economists offer advice on how
to improve the world. 40